Dare to apply for permission to fell a tree and you can stir up the most passionate of responses. Dare to apply to fell more than 300 in a Grade I-listed historic public park and you have a full-scale battle on your hands.

Such is the case in the leafy environs of Chiswick House, in west London, where the trees in question are due to be cut down as part of a large-scale restoration project that could be given the go-ahead by Hounslow council’s planning committee tomorrow.